Zero Waste

SFO’s operations generated 13,962 short tons of material last year that needed to be recaptured or sent to landfill. This is equivalent to 27.9 million pounds primarily composed of recyclable and compostable materials (70% of all materials). An average SFO guest generates a half pound of trash. The airport’s goal is to eliminate this.

As outlined in the Airport’s Strategic Plan, SFO’s goal is to become the world’s first zero waste Airport by 2021. Zero waste, as defined by the Zero Waste Alliance, is to divert at least 90% of waste from landfills and incinerators using methods like recycling and composting. A recent study confirmed that more than 95% of this waste is compostable or recyclable, making SFO’s zero waste goal within reach.

Published in 2018, SFO Airport’s Zero Waste Plan outlines a suite of measures to achieve zero waste by 2021 and work towards becoming a Closed-Loop Circular Campus in the years that follow that will control all material inputs to maximize recycling and recovery and minimize waste materials generated onsite. Pivoting from a landfill-centric system will require the airport’s materials managers to track new metrics, test new technologies and behavior-focused campaigns, and team up with new stakeholders.

Why go zero?Waste represents an inefficiency and an untapped resource that SFO wants to reduce, reuse, or reclaim as an asset for its campus and our tenants. Further, recycling organic, metal, plastic, glass or alternate materials at a dedicated facility reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the extraction, manufacture or transportation of that product during its useful life and the decomposition of that product in a landfill at its end of life. By making smarter purchasing decisions, the Airport can eliminate that process and develop sounder systems of recapture on campus and in partnership with our material hauler.

GOAL:Achieve a Zero Waste-to-Landfill Campus by 2021.

STATUS:In Fiscal Year 2015/2016 (July through June), SFO recorded a 57% material diversion rate which resulted entirely from the sorting of renewable materials on-site at the Airport by our staff, tenants and passengers. Of the source-separated materials, more than 70% (4,917 tons) were reported as compostable and processed at a composting facility in Gilroy, CA; the remainder was hauled by South San Francisco Scavenger Company. In terms of waste characterization, a recent third-party study found significant contamination throughout SFO’s bins and compactors. However, less than 5% of this waste was identified to be non-compostable or non-recyclable.